While driving this morning into the office the radio station had their version of a game where you have to eliminate one of the things or categories and this morning there was a highly scrutinized edition for hip hop.
The basic point of the game is that you have four people or things and you have eliminate one that you could have done without and today the four people were Biggie, Nas, Jay-Z and Tupac. I know... that's a good one right? Especially if you're into hip hop and have experienced all of these artist in their prime. Well the first name thrown out there by someone at the station was Jay-Z. Jay had to go immediately in their eyes and to be honest that was my first choice as well but I believe that the decision is not 100% based on merit but more so the entire package of the person. Let me explain in more detail. When the DJ on the radio said Jay-Z there was immediate laughter in the room from the other DJ's and to be honest I feel that decision involved some hate during the process. WE all know of the artist that is Jay-Z. He is still very relevant in today's music industry and has grown to be a great businessman and there is no disputing that fact but he's also portrayed to be conceited, egotistical and a bit of a douche but to some degree all those traits go with the territory of being portrayed as a "larger than life" celebrity. If you have a million people treat you like you're better then the average and can do no wrong then guess what? You're going to believe that you're better then everyone else and your attitude is aligned with the reception you get from others. Society has put these celebrities on a pedal stool and then gets upset when the person acts as though their hot shit! OK... it's how people make them feel therefore they act but that doesn't take away from Jay-Z's body of work.
Jay-Z has contributed a large body of work to the hip-hop industry and it's actually more work than all of those artist combined but he was the first on the list to be cut. Biggie undeniably was a dynamic artist! So was Tupac and he too has a large catalog of work that spanned even beyond his death. Both great lyricist during their times but they persona and the drama added to their hype as artist too and don't forget Jay-Z existed as an artist during that same time frame but was no where near their level as an entertainer which included that times version of socialized media but their bodies of work are not on the same level as Jay-Z. He's had more time to establish himself and to build his brand which consisted of an album almost every year for the span of over 10 years. That's incredible as an artist. Then there is Nas and all his beautiful glory. Nas is a great lyricist and IF he had embraced his talent and the business portion that goes along with it he could have been an all time great but lyrically he had some great songs. 
"It Was Written" and "Illmatic" hands down were two outstanding albums BUT 2 great albums does not equate to overall best in class. It just doesn't cut it because there's more that needs to be considered when debating greats. If we talk about great albums only then I think you'll need to throw in 'Only Built 4 Cuban Linx' aka The Purple Tape. EVERYONE knows what The Purple Tape is and it debuted in 1995. That's 20 damn years ago and you still know what The Purple Tape refers to til this day! BUT we don't even consider Raekwon as one of the greats because it's more to it than just a great album. So to official get the debate going who would you choose to get rid of? Even though I think Nas is a sexy dude and he happen to have a few great hits... I would have to get rid of him. I enjoyed the hype associated with the other artist too much. You know... the gossipy part of it and Nas sort of fell off his grind there and never fully was able to recuperate the hype in my opinion.
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